Safety glasses for human user; safety system

ABSTRACT

Protective goggles for human use including a pair of protective goggles for human use with at least one lens, an upper edge that is positioned against the user&#39;s forehead and a lower edge that is positioned against the user&#39;s cheek. Each of the user&#39;s eyes are covered by a separate section of lens and each of these sections extends along at least one line of curvature. It is intended that each lens section has a first and a second line of curvature that, at least in substantial part, are positioned transversely to one another, and along which the individual sections of lens extend; furthermore, that the lines of curvature of one lens section are inclined towards the lines of curvature of the other lens section in terms of their positioning.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit or priorityto U.S. Pat. No. 11,350,688, filed Feb. 12, 2020 which claims priorityunder 35 U.S.C. § 119 to European patent application EP19162395.8, filedMar. 12, 2019, the contents of each of which are incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

The present invention concerns a pair of protective goggles for humanuse with a lens, an upper edge that is positioned against the user'sforehead and a lower edge that is positioned against the user's cheek,whereby each of the user's eyes is covered by a separate section of lensand each of these sections extends along at least one line of curvature.

The invention also concerns a protection system for human users with arespiratory protection mask and protective goggles.

Protective goggles of the type described above are known from prior art.They serve to protect the user's eyes from dust, chips, liquids, heat,cold and other products or elements, in particular those that areproduced during the machining of a work piece and may be projected orexert force in the direction of the user.

Normally, protective goggles have a lens made from transparent materialwith the refractive index of a conventional glass lens, which means thatthe user's ability to see is unaffected or is affected only to a minordegree. The lens is typically divided into two sections, whereby eachsection is assigned to one of the user's eyes; that is, each of theuser's eyes is covered by its own section of the lens. These sections oflens typically extend along at least one line of curvature in order toensure the ergonomically advantageous adaptation of the goggles to theshape of the user's face. In this context, a “line of curvature” is tobe understood as a hue that is curved in at least one dimension andalong which the profile of the lens extends. As such, the curvature ofthe lens is specified by the longitudinal extension of the line ofcurvature.

Normally, the lens has a horizontal line of curvature that, when theglasses are worn as intended, runs (for example) from one of the user'seyes to the other in a horizontal direction. This means that the lensmimics the horizontal curve of the head between the right and left eyeand thus ensures an advantageous fit for the user.

To ensure that an adequate supply of ambient air is available to theeyes, to avoid the glasses fogging up, and to provide sufficient roomfor the user's eyelashes, the lens is usually situated at a certaindistance from the user's eyes and face. This is generally achievedthrough the use of a nose support that is mounted to the goggles and canbe positioned on the user's nose such that a certain distance ismaintained between the lens and the user's eyes and face. This givesrise to a conflict of objectives between maintaining clear space (toavoid the pane fogging up or obstructing the user's eyelashes) andprotecting the eyes from unwelcome products from the surroundingenvironment.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention was concerned with developing an enhanced pair ofprotective goggles that ensure enhanced protection of the eyes whilealso providing sufficient ventilation and without compromising theuser's comfort.

The objective underlying the invention was achieved in the form of apair of protective goggles with the characteristics named in claim 1.These have the advantage that edge of the lens is positionedparticularly close to the user's face while still guaranteeing a degreeof clear space that permits sufficient ventilation and a high degree ofwearer comfort. With the embodiment of the lens according to theinvention, the lens may, without requiring additional equipment, berealized affordably and in a manner that increases comfort for the user.According to the invention, it is intended that each lens section has afirst and a second line of curvature that, at least in substantial part,are positioned transversely to one another and along which the lenssection extends, and that the lines of curvature of each section areinclined towards the lines of curvature of the respective other sectionin their positioning. As such, each section of the lens extends alongtwo lines of curvature positioned transversely to one another; inparticular, this is intended to produce a curve in each section of thelens that, when the goggles are worn as intended, protrudes in front ofthe user's face. This means that each eye is assigned its own curve,which in turn means that each section of the lens is optimally adaptedto the shape of the user's face. Due the fact that the lines ofcurvature of each of the two lens sections are inclined towards eachother, the curve of each section is slanted or tilted towards the curveof the respective other section. This facilitates the particularlyfavorable adaptation of the lens sections to the natural shape of theface, since it ensures, in particular, that the distance between thelens and the user's face is, at least in substantial part, the samealong the entire edge of the lens. In particular, the first line ofcurvature and the second line of curvature are each cured in only onedimension; which means that when the lens is viewed from the top, thelines of curvature run in a linear fashion and thus that in a plan viewdrawing of the lens, they can be represented as straight lines thatintersect one another. The curve achieved by the two lines of curvaturealso means that the middle region of each lens section is positioned ata great enough distance from the user's eye that the user's eyelashes donot collide with it. Thanks to the curve, the lens is located far awayenough from the user's eyes that the user can move (i.e. open and close)their eyelids without their eyelashes colliding with the lens material.Only the edges of each lens section are located in close proximity tothe user's face, which significantly increases comfort for the wearer.Since the lines of curvature of each section of the lens are inclinedtowards the lines of the respective other section in their positioning,the first line of curvature does not run on an exactly horizontalcourse, but is rather inclined towards the horizontal.

According to a preferred further form of the invention, the first lineof curvature, which runs through the area between the upper and loweredges of the goggles on each side, is—in substantial part—horizontal. Inthis context, a “horizontal extension” is a line that, when the glassesare worn as intended, extends from one of the user's eyes towards theother; i.e. is horizontal when the user is facing straight ahead. Assuch, the first line of curvature ensures that the side edges of thelens sit close to the user's face and the lens follows the basic curveof the user's head along the horizontal plane.

In a particularly preferred form of the invention, the first lines ofcurvature are inclined towards one another in such a way that theyconverge towards the upper edge. This means that the curvatures of theindividual lens sections are positioned favorably in relation to theuser's nasal bridge and run diagonally towards one another the directionof the nasal bridge. As a result, the curvatures extend to a point thatis particularly close to the central vertical axis of the lens above thenasal region, which ensures the advantageous adaptation of the lens tothe shape of the user's face in the area of the nose support, too.

Furthermore, it is preferred that the second line of curvature, whichruns from the upper edge of the goggles to the lower edge on each of thesections, is—at least in substantial part—vertical. As such, the secondline of curvature, which is positioned transversely to the first line ofcurvature, runs from the upper edge to the lower edge and thus—when theglasses are worn as intended—in a vertical direction, affording the lensa certain curvature between the upper and lower edges. Thanks to thiscurvature, the lower edge ends in close proximity to the wearer's cheek,which means that the abovementioned advantageous reduction in spacebetween the head and the edge of the goggles is achieved. It is possiblefor the second line of curvature of each section to extend in aprecisely vertical fashion such that the two lines of curvature arepositioned parallel to one another; however, it is preferred that thesecond lines of curvature should also be inclined towards one anotherand should each be positioned at the same angle to their correspondingfirst line of curvature.

It is preferred that the intersection point of the first and secondlines of curvature of each lens section is located, at least insubstantial part, in the middle of the respective lens section of thelens. This means that the curvature exhibited by each sections of lensis positioned advantageously in relation to the user's eye on each side,which leads, in particular, to vision-related benefits for the user whenviewing things through the lens. In particular, the abovementionedadvantage ensures that all parts of the lens are positioned at an equaldistance from the user's eyes and, in particular, from their eyelashes.

It is further preferred that the two lens sections of the goggles areembodied by separate lenses, each of which is securely connected to theother, in particular by a nose support. This facilitates cost-effectiveproduction and the simple assembly of the protective goggles withoptimal capacity for adaptation to the user's face.

Alternatively, the protective goggles may be embodied by one continuouslens pane that is used to form both sections. This results in aparticularly stable pair of protective goggles with two sections oflens, each of which is curved in two directions and is in; lined towardsthe respective another in its embodiment as described above.

Preferably, the second line of curvature of each section shouldintersect its respective first line of curvature in a vertical fashion.This means that each lens section has a center of curvature at whichboth lines of curvature meet and at which the two curvatures are alignedperpendicular to one another. This results in each section of the lenshaving, in substantial part, a semi-spherical contour.

According to a preferred form of the invention, the first line ofcurvature one each section should be positioned such that it is inclinedtowards the horizontal axis of the protective goggles at an angle of 5°to 30°, in particular at an angle of 10° to 14° and preferably at anangle of 12°. This means that the horizontal line of curvature does notrun exactly horizontally, but rather is inclined towards the horizontalaxis, which in turn ensures that the outer side edge of the lensoccupies an advantageous position in the cheek area in relation to theuser's face. In particular, the first lines of curvature mirror eachother on the central vertical axis of the protective goggles in theirembodiment, which means that the protective goggles as a whole aremirror-symmetrical.

Furthermore, according to a preferred form of the invention, the firstline of curvature of each section has a radius of 43 to 63 mm, inparticular of 50 mm to 56 mm and preferably of 53 mm. This achieves anadvantageous curvature that, in turn, ensures the advantageous fit ofthe protective goggles to the face for the vast majority of the humanpopulation.

In a particularly preferred form of the invention, the second line ofcurvature on each section has a radius of 30 mm to 50 mm, in particularof 35 mm to 45 mm and preferably of 40 mm. This ensures theadvantageously close positioning of, in particular, the lower edge ofthe protective goggles in relation to the user's face; this ensures asufficient air gap while maintaining optimal protection and comfort forthe wearer.

According to a preferred further form of the invention, the lensfeatures a nose support on its lower edge as already described above. Itis preferred that the goggles have a flexible elastic protective lip,located only on the lower edge of the lens, that extends from the noseoutwards in the direction of at least one of the outer side edges of thelens and from the lower edge of the lens downwards, serving as anextension of the lens to the support on the user's cheek. The protectivelip ensures that any opening or gaps between the protective goggles andthe user's cheek are bridged and thus that the penetration of (e.g.)particles of dirt into the space between the goggles and the user's eyesis prevented. The fact that the protective lip extends only along thelower edge of the lens ensures that there is sufficient exchange ofambient air in the areas around the side edges and the upper edge,which, for example, prevents the goggles fogging up. Because theprotective lip extends downwards to the pad on the user's cheek by wayof extension of the lens, this gives rise to a protective lip that sitsparticularly flush to the cheek and extends in the direction of an areain which a respiratory mask can additionally be placed. As part of thissystem, the respiratory mask can be placed optionally over theprotective lip such that the protective lip and respiratory mask overlapand protect the face and eyes while simultaneously ensuring the securepositioning of both the protective lip and the respiratory mask on theuser's face. The advantageous embodiment of the protective goggles meansthat the lens is located particularly close to the user's face and therespiratory mask located particularly close to the user's eye area,which facilitates the advantageous fit of the respiratory mask on theuser's face. This also reduces the risk of collision between theprotective goggles and the respiratory mask (or other protectiveequipment), meaning that both can be worn comfortably and withoutrequiring the user to sacrifice their comfort.

According to a preferred further form of the invention, the protectivelip forms or contributes to forming the nose support of the protectivegoggles. To this end, either one protective lip is provided fir each ofthe user's eyes—each of which, preferably, is integrally molded orotherwise attached to its or separate lens—or else the protective lipextends along the entire lower edge of the protective goggles, acrossboth lens section, and thus forms the nose support in the in the middle.In this case, the protective lip is embodied integrally with the nosesupport. Preferably, the nose support is, at least in substantial part,embodied on the side of the protective goggles not facing the user'sface, which in turn means that the lenses sit particularly close to theface. According to one particular embodiment, this is achieved by theprotective lip extending from straight down the lower edge of the lensin one plane, whereby its curve follows that of the first horizontalline of curvature. Alternatively, the protective lip may have its owncurvature along a horizontal axis, which would cause the lip to bend insuch a way that it lies flush to the user's cheek.

The protection system according to the invention, with the featuresdescribed in the claims, is characterized by the design of theprotective goggles according to the invention. This gives rise, as aminimum, to the aforementioned advantages. In addition, the advantageousembodiment of the protective goggles means that the protective mask sitsparticularly close to the user's eyes and, more specifically, to theprotective goggles, and thus ensures a high degree of comfort for thewearer. In particular, the protective goggles are adapted to the shapeof the respiratory protection mask to guarantee the optimal fit of bothon the user's face and without allowing these to impinge on or collidewith on another during wear in such a way that the optimal fit of theaffected section is hindered.

It is particularly preferred that that the protective goggles have theaforementioned protective lip, whereby this protective lip preferablyfeatures a support area for the mask. It is preferred that this supportarea is embodied as a sliding-contact zone, so that any movement of therespiratory mask on the user's face does not lead to the movement of theprotective goggles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is described in greater detail in the drawings, wherebyeach figure shows the following:

FIG. 1 . A perspective view of the advantageous pair of protectivegoggles,

FIG. 2 . A perspective plan view of the protective goggles from above,

FIG. 3 . A sectional drawing of the protective goggles, and

FIG. 4 . A plan view of the protective goggles from the front.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an advantageous pair of protectivegoggles (1) for human use. The protective goggles (1) have a lens (2)made particularly from transparent material and forming two lenssections (3,4), whereby each of the lens sections (3,4) is assigned toone of the user's eyes. The lens (2) is embodied as a continuous lensthat is used to form both lens sections (3,4). An alternative design inwhich each lens section (3,4) is formed by its own individual lens isforeseen according to a further embodiment of the invention and isindicated in FIG. 1 by a dashed central dividing line (5).

The lens (2) has an upper edge (6) that is positioned against the user'sforehead, a lower edge (7) positioned against the user's cheeks and twoouter side edges (8 and 9), each of which is connected to a temple (10,11) to allow it to be supported on the user's ear. The temples (10, 11)are only partially shown here.

The lens (2) of the advantageous protective goggles (1) is embodied insuch a way that each lens section (3, 4) extends along two lines ofcurvature, where the lines in each section are positioned transverselyand, in particular, perpendicular to one another.

FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the protective goggles (1). In the planview, it can be seen that both sections of lens (3, 4) have a firstcurvature. This means that each of the lens sections (3, 4) extendsalong a first line of curvature (13) that runs, in substantial part,horizontally along the lens (2). The first lines of curvature (13) areembodied in such a way that they are convex relative to the center ofcurvature M, which, when the goggles are worn correctly, is located overthe user's eye. In the present case, each first line of curvature (13)has a radius of 53 min, whereby in FIG. 2 , only the radius for lenssection (4) is shown.

FIG. 3 shows a sectional drawing of the protective goggles (1) from FIG.2 along line A-A. The sectional drawing shows clearly that the lens (2),in particular lens section (4), has a second line of curvature (14) thatextends transversely to the first line of curvature (13). FIG. 3 alsoillustrates the positioning of the protection goggles (1) on the eye(12) of a user, who is not shown in further detail here.

FIG. 4 shows a plan view of the front side of the protective goggles(1). Dotted lines are used to mark the lines of curvature (13, 14) onlens section (4), which intersect each other roughly in the middle oflens section (4)—at point 5 and, in the present case, are positionedperpendicular to one another. The lines of curvature (13, 14) are eachcurved in only one dimension, which means that they are shown asstraight lines on the plan view shown in the figure. FIG. 4 showsprojections of the curvature lines (13, 14) on this basis. In addition,the first line of curvature (13) is inclined at an angle α of, in thepresent case, α=12° to the horizontal H, so that the position of thefirst line of curvature (13) on the plan view is rotatedcounterclockwise by the angle α. This means that the intersection point(15) lies roughly in the middle of lens section (4) and that the firstline of curvature (13) runs above a recess on the lower edge (7) of thelens (2) that forms a nose support (16) in the transition to theadjacent lens section (3).

Because the line of curvature (14) is positioned perpendicular to theline of curvature (13), the second line of curvature (14) is alsoinclined, in particular in the direction of a vertical axis V.

The first and second lines of curvature (13, 14) assigned to lenssection (3) are a mirror image of the lines of curvature (13, 14) oflens (4), which means that there is reflection about a vertical centralaxis MA that, in FIG. 4 , runs vertically down the middle of the lens(2) as shown by the illustrative dividing line (5).

The lens sections (3, 4), which extend only along the lines of curvature(13, 14), are thus curved in two different directions in theirembodiment, which results in each section having, at least insubstantial part, a semi-spherical contour. In the present case, therespective first line of curvature (13) has a radius of 53 mm (R53). Therespective second line of curvature (14), in contrast, has a preferredradius of 40 mm (R40).

Thanks to the advantageous course of the first line of curvature (13),the lens (2) encloses the user's face in an advantageous fashion at thesides. Thanks to the advantageous course of the second line of curvature(14), the individual lens sections (3, 4) extend advantageously from theforehead of the user (i.e. from the upper edge (6)) to the user's cheek(i.e. to the lower edge (7)) in such a way that the lens is positionedonly a small distance from the user's face at both the upper (6) andlower (7) edges. On the one hand, this small distance ensures thatsufficient air exchange can take place, preventing the lens (2) fromfogging up; on the other hand, the distance is small enough to protectthe user's eyes from, for example, chips or liquids that may beprojected in the direction of the user during the machining of a workpiece. In particular, the second curve along the second line ofcurvature (14) means that the individual lens sections (3,4) curve infront of the respective eye (12) of the user in such a way that a smalldistance is guaranteed at the edges and that there is a sufficientlylarge distance from the eye in the central area to prevent the user fromhitting the protective goggles (1) with—for example—their eyelashes, asindicated in FIG. 3 . Thanks to the advantageous double-curved deign ofthe lens sections (3, 4), space is afforded for the movement of eyelidsand eyelashes without also resulting in a large amount of clear spacebetween the edges of the lens (2) and the user's face.

Due to the inclination of the first lines of curvature [13] towards oneanother in such a way that they converge in the direction of the upperedge (6)—in particular, due to the obtuse angle between the twolines—the respective curve of each lens section (3, 4) extends in anadvantageous fashion in the nasal region; specifically, in the directionof the nose support attached to the lens (2). In particular, this meansthat the first lines of curvature (13) end above the nose/nose support,which in turns ensures the advantageous adaptation of the respectivelens section to the shape of the user's face.

To further reduce the already small distance between the lower edge (7)and the user's cheek, the protective goggles (1) may optionally featurea protective lip (17). The protective lip (17) is located only on thelower edge (7) and, in the present case, extends integrally from lenssection (4) to lens section (3), thereby helping to form the nosesupport (16). In addition, the protective lip (17) extends downwards asan extension of the lens (2)—that is, it extends downwards from thelower edge (7) as an extension of the lens such that, when the gogglesare worn as intended, the protective lip (17) rests on the user's cheekand thus that the gaps between the lower edge (7) and the user's cheekare completely closed or sealed, thereby securely preventing thepenetration of dirt particles, chips, fluid or similar into this area.Optionally, the protective lip (17) may be made from transparentmaterial so as to avoid further limiting the user's sight. Inparticular, the protective lip (17) is integrally molded directly to thelens (2) and, in particular, is positively bonded thereto therebyguaranteeing the secure attachment of the protective lip (17) to thelens (2) in the long term.

Advantageously, the protective lip (17) is embodied such that it formsthe nose support (16) in such a way that the nose support (16), at leastin substantial part, is embodied on the side of the lens (2) facing awayfrom the user's face; that is, protruding outwards from the lens (2).This has the effect that the lens (2) is positioned particularly closeto the user's face.

While, according to the present form of the invention, the first linesof curvature (13) are inclined at an angle α of 12° to the horizontal H,it has generally been observed that an incline of 5° to 30° and inparticular of 10° to 14° is, in principle, suitable for ensuring theadvantageous embodiment of the protective goggles. The same applies forthe radii named herein, which are given as 53 mm for the first line ofcurvature and 40 mm for the second line of curvature in the exemplaryembodiment. As a general principle, however, the radii may deviate fromthese named radii up to a certain a degree. In particular, radii of 43to 63 mm and more particularly of 50 to 60 mm have shown to beadvantageous for the first line of curvature (13). For the second lineof curvature (14), radii of 30 to 50 mm and more particularly of 35 to45 mm have been shown to be advantageous.

Optionally, the protective goggles (1) may be combined with arespiratory protection mask (18) to produce a protection system (19) asshown in FIG. 3 . The respiratory protection mask (18) is embodied insuch a way that it extends over the mouth and nose of the user when wornas intended and fits tightly to the user's face at its outer edge (2).If the protective lip is provided (17), this serves at least as apartial support for the outer edge (20) of the respiratory mask (18). Inparticular, the protective lip (17) has a sliding-contact zone thatfaces away from the user's face and on which the respiratory mask (18)may be placed by aligning its outer edge (2) with the sliding-contactzone. The sliding-contact zone (21) allows the respiratory mask (18) tomove around on the protective lip (17) without moving the protectivegoggles (1) on the user's face.

The advantageous design of respiratory mask (18) and protective goggles(1) means that overall a high level of wearer comfort is achieved forprotection system (19) as a whole.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A protective goggles comprising: at leastone lens comprising an upper edge, a lower edge, and a respective lenssection for each eye of a user when worn, each lens section having afirst line of curvature and a second line of curvature, the first lineof curvature and the second line of curvature oriented at leastsubstantially transversely to one another, and along which therespective lens section extends, and the lines of curvature of one lenssection being inclined with respect to the lines of curvature of theother lens section.
 2. The protective goggles of claim 1, wherein therespective first line of curvature extends substantially horizontallybetween the upper edge and lower edge of the lens.
 3. The protectivegoggles of claim 1, wherein the first lines of curvature are inclinedrelative to one another in such a way that they converge in thedirection of the upper edge.
 4. The protective goggles of claim 1,wherein the second lines of curvature extend substantially verticallyfrom the upper edge to the lower edge.
 5. The protective goggles ofclaim 1, wherein an intersection point of the first and second lines ofcurvature of each lens section is located, at least in substantial part,in the middle of the respective lens section of the lens.
 6. Theprotective goggles of claim 1, wherein a respective lens section of thelens that is assignable to one eye of the user when worn, is embodied asa separate lens to the lens section that is assignable to the other eyeof the user when worn.
 7. The protective goggles of claim 1, whereinboth lens sections are formed integrally into one continuous lens. 8.The protective goggles of claim 1, wherein each second line of curvatureintersects the corresponding first line of curvature in an orthogonalfashion.
 9. The protective goggles of claim 1, wherein each first lineof curvature is inclined with respect to a horizontal axis (H) of theprotective goggles at an angle in a range of 5° to 30°.
 10. Theprotective goggles of claim 9, wherein each first line of curvature isinclined with respect to a horizontal axis (H) of the protective gogglesat an angle in a range of 10° to 14°.
 11. The protective goggles ofclaim 10, wherein each first line of curvature is inclined with respectto a horizontal axis (H) of the protective goggles at an angle of 12°.12. The protective goggles of claim 1, wherein each first line ofcurvature has a radius in a range of 43 mm to 63 mm.
 13. The protectivegoggles of claim 12, wherein each first line of curvature has a radiusin a range of 50 mm to 56 mm.
 14. The protective goggles of claim 13,wherein each first line of curvature has a radius of 53 mm.
 15. Theprotective goggles of claim 1, wherein each second line of curvature hasa radius in a range of 30 mm to 50 mm.
 16. The protective goggles ofclaim 1, wherein each second line of curvature has a radius in a rangeof 35 mm to 45 mm.
 17. The protective goggles of claim 16, wherein eachsecond line of curvature has a radius of 40 mm.
 18. The protectivegoggles of claim 1, further comprising a nose support located on thelower edge of the lens.
 19. The protective goggles of claim 1, furthercomprising an elastically deformable protective lip located on the loweredge of the lens.
 20. The protective goggles of claim 19, wherein theprotective lip extends from the lower edge of the lens as an extensionof the lens and is supportable by a user's cheek when worn.
 21. Theprotective goggles of claim 19, wherein the protective lip forms orcontributes to forming a nose support.
 22. The protective goggles ofclaim 19, wherein the protective lip includes a sliding zone forsupporting a respiratory mask in a region of the sliding zone.
 23. Awearable protective system including a respiratory mask and a protectivegoogles, wherein the protective goggles include at least one lenscomprising an upper edge, a lower edge, and a respective lens sectionfor each eye of the user when worn, each lens section having a firstline of curvature and a second line of curvature, the first line ofcurvature and the second line of curvature oriented at leastsubstantially transversely to one another, and along which therespective lens section extends, and the lines of curvature of one lenssection being inclined with respect to the lines of curvature of theother lens section.